NOTE: This story originally appeared on Emergency! Station.
Thank you Redgirl for giving my
orphan a home! :)
By: Cheryl
John Gage leaped from his bed as the dorm lights flicked on,
bright as sunlight. The tones had just
sounded and the dispatcher’s voice echoed through the apparatus bay.
“Station 51, structure fire. 1322 South Wilson, 1-3-2-2 South Wilson, cross street, 16th,
time out 3:37.”
“Station 51, KMG 365.”
Captain Hank Stanley responded.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he jogged out of the now empty dorm to
the waiting engine. Man, I must be getting old. These early morning calls seem to be getting
harder and harder. While still a
young man at age 37, and by no means slow, he knew he didn’t spring out of bed
as fast as when he was 20. Hank leaped
into his seat in the engine, as it followed the squad out of the station,
sirens blaring.
Station 51 arrived at the remote address to find a small
gray building partially involved in flames.
Mike Stoker pulled the engine up next to the hydrant across the road
from the structure, as Roy pulled the squad around the engine. Turning into the
driveway, the headlights passed over a fancy wood sign.
“Wilson Street Equine Hospital.” Johnny read out loud.
“Dr. Robert Canfield, DVM.”
“What’s an Equine?”
Roy asked, parking the squad next to the building.
“Equines are horses.”
Johnny replied, opening his door.
“It’s a horse hospital.”
As Roy and Johnny grabbed their turn out coats and SCBA
gear, Mike pulled the engine up in front of the squad. Assessing the situation, Captain Stanley
jumped down from the engine, turning to Chet Kelly and Marco Lopez.
“Kelly, Lopez, pull an inch and a half and cover the north
exposure.” Cap looked toward his
paramedics. “Gage, DeSoto you guys pull
the other inch and a half and cover the western side.” He gazed on with pride as his men quickly
set about extinguishing the fire.
Heaving the hose over their shoulders, Roy and Johnny
trotted around behind Marco and Chet who were already battling their side of
the fire. The two paramedics rounded
the corner to the west side of the building, which was smoking and already
beginning to burn.
Johnny grabbed the nozzle and faced the smoldering wall, Roy
taking position behind him. They both
braced their feet when Stoker charged their line. As Johnny turned on the water and began to douse the wall, an
animalistic scream tore though the night.
Startled, Johnny turned his head back towards Roy, yelling over the
roaring fire. “Did you hear that?”
Roy nodded. “It
wasn’t human. What was it?” Once again the scream pierced the air.
Johnny quickly turned off the water and ran towards the
squad, towing Roy behind him. “That’s a
horse!” He shouted at his partner.
“We’ve got to get it out NOW!” They ran up to the Cap who was intently watching
the fire.
“Cap, there’s a horse trapped in the west end of the
building. We have to get it out!”
Cap looked at the rapidly spreading fire. “Gage, that fire is picking up
momentum. I don’t know if you two would
have enough time to get that animal out.”
Johnny’s eyes took on a pleading look. “Cap, please. We can’t just sit here and do nothing. I can’t listen to that horse’s screams as it burns to death!”
“Johnny’s right, Cap.
We can’t just leave it there.”
Roy agreed.
Hank once again eyed the burning building. He sighed.
“Alright, go. But make it FAST!”
Roy and Johnny ran to the southern side of the building,
away from the flames. Using an axe they
quickly broke through the door and entered the smoky building. As they passed through the treatment room
the trapped horse once again whinnied in terror. They walked up to the stall and looked through the metal gate.
Staring back at them, eyes wide in terror, was a beautiful
chestnut mare. She hobbled around the
stall, her gait hindered by a large cast extending all the way up over her knee
on her left front leg.
Johnny turned and spied a halter hanging on a brass hook by
the stall. He reached up and grabbed it
as Roy opened the sliding metal door.
The mare reared in panic and scrambled to the opposite side of the
stall.
Johnny, having grown up around horses recognized the mare’s
behavior instantly. Reaching out, he
grabbed Roy’s arm. “Watch it, Roy. That
animal’s panicked. Don’t get behind
her. I think the less people around
her, the better. Why don’t you stand in
the doorway and I’ll go in after her.”
Roy stepped back.
“Ok, but be careful. I don’t
want to have to haul you and her out.”
Johnny nodded cautiously entering the stall. The mare eyed him, trembling, as he
approached her head. “Whoa girl,
easy.” He soothed reaching out with his
right hand. “Whoa, easy now.” Johnny slowly wrapped the lead rope around
her neck. As attempted to place the
halter on her head, a crash on the north side of the building echoed through
the clinic. The mare reared and spun
around on her haunches dragging Johnny with her. “Whoa!” He yelled clinging to the rope. “Easy girl.” The mare abruptly stopped pawing the ground
in fear. “It’s ok, whoa mare.” Johnny soothed as he scratched her on the
neck. The horse bobbed her head,
relaxing a little.
Roy looked up at the smoldering ceiling. It looked as if it would ignite any
second. The HT in his pocket crackled
to life.
“HT 51, this is Engine 51. Roy, Johnny,
we can’t contain this fire out of your area much longer. Get out NOW! That’s an order!”
Watching Johnny slip the halter over the mare’s head, Roy
grabbed the HT. “Cap, we’re on our way
now.” He stepped aside allowing Johnny to
lead the horse toward the stall door.
Stepping from the stall onto the concrete isle, Johnny felt
the rope suddenly become taunt. The
chestnut mare halted, legs braced and eyes filled with fear.
Roy turned back to see what the delay was. “Johnny, we have to get out now! What’s the problem?”
Johnny shook his head in sympathy. “Poor mare. She’s so scared, she can’t move. You see anything we can use to cover her
eyes with? If she can’t see, she’ll
blindly follow us.” They looked around
for anything large enough, but nothing fit the bill.
Once again, Roy looked at the ceiling, which was on the
verge of igniting. “Johnny, we have to
get out, now.” Turning he saw his
partner ripping off his helmet and SCBA gear.
“What are you doing?” Johnny was
removing the only protection he had from the fire.
Johnny stepped forward and handed his gear to Roy. “I’m going to use my turnout to shield her
eyes.” He hastily crammed his helmet
back on his head. Slowly, Johnny
removed his turnout and lifted it over the horse’s head, speaking quietly all
the time. He tucked the sleeves into
the halter and gently pulled forward on the rope clucking in
encouragement.
.
The mare slowly lifted one foot forward, then another,
blindly following the paramedic out of the building.
Roy exited the clinic, and turned to watch Johnny lead the
terrified horse to safety. As the mare
stepped out the door she tripped on the ledge and bolted, dragging Johnny
along. Holding fast to the rope he
pulled the blindfold off, comforting the horse as she danced in circles around
him. Finally, she quieted and Johnny
led her away from the fire and the noise of the additional companies called in
to battle the blaze, which had now engulfed the entire building.
About 50 yards away from the burning structure Johnny
stopped to take a good look at the mare.
Feeling down her left hind leg, his hand encountered a wet sticky
spot. Pulling away he saw that it was
covered with blood. Glancing over his
shoulder, Johnny saw Cap and Roy approaching.
“Well, John,” Cap said with a warm smile on his face. “How’s your victim?”
Johnny ran his hand over the injured area again, trying to
determine the gravity of the wound. “I
think she’s ok, Cap. Just a small
laceration on her leg, here.” He looked down at her hooves. “She’s wearing
shoes, she probably kicked herself by accident when she was trapped.”
“Dispatch located the veterinarian who owns this place, a
Dr. Canfield.” Cap said. “He’s on his way now. I’m sure he’ll take care of this.”
Johnny nodded.
“Yeah, but I’d like to put a dressing on it anyhow, Cap.”
“I’ll grab the trauma box.”
Roy trotted over to the squad.
Smiling, Cap walked back to the fire, which by now was
almost out. John Gage, horse paramedic.
He joked to himself.
Roy handed Johnny a roll of gauze and some 4x4’s. “You seemed pretty adamant about getting
this horse out, Johnny. I mean we all
wanted to save her, but for you, it seemed to be a singular mission. Any particular reason?”
Johnny was silent for a moment as he wrapped the gauze
around the mare’s leg, securing the 4x4’s.
“There’s a roll of 2” tape in there, somewhere, could you hand it to
me?” He asked.
Switching the horse’s lead rope to his left hand Roy
squatted down, fishing around the trauma box with his right hand. He handed the tape to Johnny, who secured
the bottom and top of the bandage holding it in place.
Johnny stood up and wiped his hands on his pants. He looked at Roy, who was staring at him
intently. Johnny sighed. “When I was a kid on the reservation I had a
great old horse named CJ. He was a gift
to me from my parents on my 10th birthday. That horse and I went everywhere together; he was my best
friend. He was a black and white pinto
with white over his back, white streaks in his mane and tail and white over his
face with blue eyes. I used to ride him
at a dead run, wind whistling in my ears.”
Johnny closed his eyes. “I can
still feel his powerful muscles churning under me. Man, he was fast.
When I was 17, some old fool lit a cigarette in the barn where he was
stalled. It was winter and he was
older, so unlike the other horses, he was stalled at night. Anyway, the barn caught fire, and by the
time help got there, it was too late for anyone to get inside.” Johnny bowed his head and took a deep
shuddering breath. “I can still hear
him whinny in terror right before the barn roof collapsed.” Johnny laid a hand on the mare’s neck,
gently stroking her.
Roy shook his head in disbelief. “I’m sorry Johnny, I had no idea.”
“It’s ok, Roy. When I heard this horse cry out, all I could
think of was CJ, and how I wouldn’t let that happen again. It was redemption for me, and for CJ.”
Roy smiled. “Yeah.”
They turned to see a large pickup truck pull into the
driveway. The driver stepped out,
staring at the smoking remains of the clinic.
Spying the two paramedics and their charge, the man trotted up to them
his face a mixture of sorrow and gratitude.
“I’m Dr. Robert Canfield, you can call me Dr. Bob, everyone does. Thank you so much for saving this
mare.” His eyes fell on the new bandage
on the horse’s hind leg. “What’s this?
What happened?”
Johnny extended his hand to the veterinarian. “I’m Firefighter/Paramedic John Gage, this
is my partner Roy DeSoto. From what I
could tell she has a 2” laceration on the inside of the cannon bone. I thought we should wrap it until you
arrived.”
Walking over to the bandaged leg, Bob nodded in
agreement. “Nice bandage. You’ve wrapped horse’s legs before.” It wasn’t a question. “I’ll take it from here. There’s a large veterinary hospital a few
miles from here. I’ll take her there. Thanks again, this horse means the world to
a 17-year-old client of mine. This
horse is her best friend. I can’t
imagine what would have happened if that girl would have lost her.”
Johnny and Roy nodded at the veterinarian. “You’re welcome. It’s all part of the job.”
Roy said. They turned and walked
back towards the Cap, large smiles on their faces.
“Feels good huh, Junior?”
Roy said, clapping his partner on the back.
Johnny returned the gesture. “You bet, Pally.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my
first attempt at E! Fan fiction, I hope it’s okay!
I manage
the office at an all horse clinic, so naturally, this story idea came to me.
Also, having grown up on horseback and having owned horses for over 20 years,
it was a topic that was easy to write about. This story was originally a
submission for the rescue challenge, but I couldn’t seem to make is short
enough!
Many thanks go out to Susie for finding time in her busy
schedule to beta read this story for me. Thanks bunches girlfriend!
I hope you
enjoyed it!
~~Cheryl~~